Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1887-06-24
Why the Negroe. Leave the south.

\ correspondent of the New York sun,
writing from Abbeville, S. c., gives the rea-
sons which have led to the periods Of mi
grafton from that state by the negroes. The
first cause assigned is that the negroes have
lost their political rights in South Carolina,
and when it is considered that the colured
man regards his vote as dear as life, one
can understand why he leaves the state
which he believes TO have permanently de
prived him of the right to vote. The sec
ond cause is the impossibility Of the negro
obtaining justice There is practically no
protection for the colored man when his OPP
ponent is a white The unsupported word
Of white man is better in the courts to
which the negro has access than the con
current testimony of IA dozen colored peo-
pie The writer gives a hnlf-dozen instances
Of gross injustice and cruelty coming un-
der his knowledge in "A single township
within n short period. This is a sample 4:
"A white man rode up TO where negro
was shuckng corn before his cabin door
and beat him over the head with a club
The negro died few days after, and at the
coroners inquest an intelligent doctor de
posed that the man died of congestion of
the brain, and an intelligent jury found IA
verdict in accordance with this medical
opinion The writer SAYS that he could 20
ON with column after column Of incidents
showing that the laws do not protect color
ed people in South Carolina from wrong
and outrage The next reason for the col
ored exodus is the stock law. Until recent
" farmers were obliged to fence their crops,
which allowed cattle and hogs TO run at
large, and at the same time gave the color
ed people the opportunity to fence in lots of
land. The law now requires owners of
stock to keep their animals confined to their
own lands This, of necessity, prevents
the colored people from keeping cows and
pigs, which deprives them of much of their
living Under carpet bag rule "A law was
enacted which provided that the colored
man who farmed on shares should have
two thirds and the owner one third of the
crop. That law has been repealed and an
other enacted which gives the land owner
lien on the whole crop for the rental of
his land which is always eXorbitant The
result is that the landlord often gets all tht
crop and leaves nothing for the tenant
This policy best suits the white land owner,
because he prefers to farm his own lands
and hire colored labor. Consequently tht
more negroes he can keep from share-farm-
ing the larger the number of laborers and
the lower the wages the land owner is com
PEELED 10 pay These are the strong cause,
which are impelling masses of colored peo
Pile to leave the places of their birth and
seek homes elsewhere. SO long IA these
causes continue To operate, this correspond
ent says, the negroes will continue to leave
the South in large numbers. I'm this man
ner the blacks may be scattered from theil
strongholds all over this broad land and
thus, in detached parties, they will be sur
rounded by the overwhelming masses OF
the white population, and so, politically ant
socially, elevated. The thing needed is moi
the suppression of this movement, but it,
control and regulation, It should be recol
lected that the welfare of six million oi
people is at stake and the question ought
to be approached with the unshakable de
termination Of allowing only the NAKED
truth to influence the judgment,